CVE-2025-15521
Published: 21 January 2026
Summary
CVE-2025-15521 is a critical-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key (CWE-639) vulnerability in Wordpress (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 27.2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and IA-5 (Authenticator Management).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2025-15521 is a privilege escalation vulnerability via account takeover in the Academy LMS – WordPress LMS Plugin for Complete eLearning Solution for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 3.5.0. The issue arises because the plugin does not properly validate a user's identity prior to updating their password, instead relying solely on a publicly-exposed nonce for authorization. Published on 2026-01-21, it has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and is associated with CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key).
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely with low complexity and no user interaction or privileges required. By leveraging the inadequate authorization, they can change the password of arbitrary users, including administrators, thereby achieving full account takeover and potential control over the WordPress site.
Advisories point to the vulnerable code at line 1581 in includes/functions.php of version 3.5.0, as shown in the WordPress plugins trac repository. Wordfence threat intelligence provides further details on the issue via its vulnerability database entry.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-3698
Vulnerability details
The Academy LMS – WordPress LMS Plugin for Complete eLearning Solution plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation via account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 3.5.0. This is due to the plugin not properly validating a…
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user's identity prior to updating their password and relying solely on a publicly-exposed nonce for authorization. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to change arbitrary user's password, including administrators, and gain access to their account.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
T1190: Unauthenticated exploitation of public-facing WordPress plugin vulnerability. T1098: Enables unauthorized password changes for arbitrary users including admins, facilitating account manipulation and takeover.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Mandates enforcement of approved authorizations, directly preventing unauthorized password updates due to inadequate identity validation beyond a public nonce.
Requires protection of authenticators from unauthorized modification, addressing the lack of identity verification before password changes.
Establishes procedures for modifying accounts and credentials securely, mitigating risks from arbitrary password changes without proper authorization.